1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to exercise equipment and more particularly, but not by way of limitation, to collars used to hold weights on the ends of bars of barbells.
2. Brief Discussion of the Prior Art
Barbells used in the sport of weight lifting are provided with a number of weights that can be mounted in various combinations on the ends of a bar so that the user can select the weight he will lift in any particular exercise. For this purpose, the weights are discs having holes through their centers so that the bar can be inserted through the holes of the weights the user has selected and collars can be placed on the bars between the weights and the end of the bar to secure the weights on the bar. A variety of types of barbell collars are available to the weight lifter for this purpose.
A consideration which is very important in weight lifting is safety. Should a collar fail during an exercise so that a weight slips off the bar, the weight lifter might be injured by the sudden imbalance of the load he is lifting or by the falling weight. Falling weights can, of course, also be a hazard to bystanders. While this problem can be overcome by appropriate construction of the collar, the solution to the problem provided by prior art collars has often left much to be desired. In general, the greater the security that is designed into a collar, the less convenient the collar is to use. That is, the features of the prior art collars that make the collars secure also make the collar difficult to remove for changing the weights on the end of the bar.
This relationship between collar security and convenience in prior art barbell collars can give rise to the hazards the collars are designed to avoid. For example, in situations in which a number of weight lifters are using the same set of weights in a gymnasium, the weight lifters passing the weights back and forth among themselves as they complete exercises, one or more of the weight lifters may elect to dispense with inconvenient collars rather than break the momentum of his exercises. This practice has been known to occur even though it is equally well known that the practice is very dangerous. Similarly, a balky barbell collar can have a deleterious effect on a weight lifter's performance. Intense mental concentration is a part of weight lifting and a balky barbell collar can break the weight lifter's concentration at a critical time during competition with a subsequent decrease in the weight lifter's performance. An important consideration, then, in the selection of a barbell collar is that the collar be easily mounted on a bar and, at the same time, securely hold weights on the bar.
Safety can also be a problem when weights are added or removed from a barbell. Prior art collars are placed on the bar by sliding them on and off the end of the bar, in the same manner that weights slide on and off the end of the bar, so that a change in the weights on a bar where prior art collars are used is carried out while the collar is removed from the bar. When, as is often the case, central portions of the bar are supported on a rack while weights are added or removed from the ends of the bar, the bar can become sufficiently unbalanced during the weight change to topple the rack or tilt the bar and spill weights off the end of the bar in the absence of a collar on the bar to hold the weights thereon. Additionally, prior art collars are often bulky and heavy so that they are difficult to handle. Injury can occur through dropping of the collars during a weight change.